As their respective leaders publicly embrace the opposition, Orange County’s Republicans and Democrats are betting against the City Council Majority governing Anaheim. Americans remain anxious and concerned about spending in what appears to be a new normal for the economy. So with high-profile contests raging in and around the city, neither party can afford to be associated with Anaheim’s leadership. The waste and abuse at City Hall presents an undeniable narrative; it is, after-all, in plain sight.

With three of its four members in campaign mode, the Council Majority must change the terms of the debate heading into November. To that end, the coalition will use its considerable financial clout to produce a more favorable counter-narrative. Last week the Council Majority filed three politically motivated lawsuits related, loosely, to the present campaign. Therein, one can discern what the Council Majority is attempting to pass-off as reality.

The first two law suits were filed by Councilwomen Gail Eastman and Kris Murray against an elderly City Hall gadfly named Denis Fitzgerald. A hold-over from Curt Pringle’s tenure as mayor, Fitzgerald is known for his regular public rants on, what he believes is, the poison in Disneyland’s fireworks. The elected officials are taking this shabby eccentric to court because they would like him to retract a statement claiming Disney, the city’s largest employer, has a “tremendous influence” over the City Council. In the complaint, Murray and Eastman put their mastery of Latin to use and call the allegation an “ad hominem attack”.

Eastman with former Mayor Pringle

It is odd that Councilwoman Eastman would participate in the lawsuit. She is on the record saying she believes Fitzgerald is mentally ill and has accordingly urged compassion. Perhaps because her Disney connection lost her an election in 2008, she has since changed her tone. In lieu of compassion, the Councilwoman is insisting that a very busy judge censor what she believes is a mad man.

Preferring intimidation and character assassination, Kris Murray never afforded Fitzgerald any sympathy, or for that matter, any attention. Nevertheless, it is obvious what Murray has to gain by raising Fitzgerald’s profile. An alleged Disney connection will draw attention away from her prominent connection to high-speed rail and ARTIC. And ever since Murray’s infamous hate-speech stunt, she has sought in vain to link Fitzgerald, who recently added bigotry to his act, to the rest of her critics. Apparently, she feels that the public will cut her some slack if they feel she is the victim of homophobia and antisemitism.

Looking to unseat incumbent Mayor Tom Tait, the third frivolous lawsuit comes from Councilwoman Lucille Kring. She could not participate in the former because 1) She has openly discussed being familiar with the homophobic antisemite Fitzgerald, and 2) Kring has made statements about Disney and the City Council that make “tremendous influence” sound like an understatement.

Not to be left out of the fun in any event, Kring sued Mayor Tait. She claims the language he used in his ballot statement wrongly suggests her support of district elections. The phrase in question, “neighborhood representation”, seems sufficiently vague enough to cover the constantly evolving views of the councilwoman. However, she is on record saying that she would not mind if Anaheim Hills was left without any representation on the Council; no, she encourages “let the [current election] system play-out.”. Given Ms. Kring’s views on alternative dispute resolution, perhaps the Mayor should concede the point.

About Daniel Sterling Lamb

Daniel is an attorney in Orange County, California. A conservative activist born in Anaheim, he is driven by his dedication to fiscal responsibility and transparency in local governments. "Government does not solve problems—it subsidizes them” Ronald Reagan, first said in 1967 and used many times as governor of California and while campaigning for president of the United States. He loves that quote! Follow Dan on twitter @DanSterlingLamb

4 Comments

Actually Fitzgerald is right about the toxicity of fireworks, they get those pretty colors by lighting heavy metals on fire. Hey there is good news, the pyrotechnics geeks have found a way to make BLUE safer. Just a few more colors to go. Sadly with Fitzgeralds’ misogynist rants nobody can hear the message for hatred of the messenger. I did stop to thank him for cleaning it up over the last few meetings, he actually got APPLAUSE when he stuck to pointing out hypocrisy and leaving out the name calling. Of course because I was seen thanking him for nor befouling the air I was accused of colluding with him, so go figure. Yep, and Tom Tait is behind the hate speech. What kind of paranoid world do these people live in?

But-but-but CYNTHIA! Disney invented “clean” fireworks, and then helpfully provided the info to EVERYONE for use! Uh..they DID eliminate the black powder for launching them, so the smoke is reduced, and thus the visibility was enhanced (OK we will give them credit and believe they might have possibly given a damn about the small children living in the fallout zone) but the composition of fireworks is the same everywhere in the US. China is WAY worse but we don’t use those here.

But-but-but CYNTHIA! You MUST be mistaken! Surely in an age when water use is regulated and you have to file forms in triplicate to put in new flower beds, someone demands, uh. PERMITS? RIGHT? Ages ago I sought to shut up Fitzgerald and asked the City for those very documents, assuming I would be buried in reports updated quarterly. Uh…no respondent records. Fireworks are mentioned in the Resort EIR, I was told, check there. Well the EIR addresses noise levels, not toxicity. Fire Department seems to monitor them in some way, check there Mrs. Ward. Uh…they monitor safe storage so the heavy metals mixed with gunpowder don’t go off on the ground. No mention of toxicity. Oh, the SCAQMD covers that. Check there. Uh…nope, the AQMD, the same folks who are Hell bent on saving us from the toxins in beach fire pits, have EXEMPTED pyrotechnics displays from study. Just because you are crazy does not mean you are factually incorrect.

Having failed to find the docs in the hands of gov’t, I casually asked a then-friend inside Disney to help me shut up Fitzgerald and tell me where to find the docs. I got an odd look and a cold shoulder, just before the pro-Resort crowd began freezing me out.

OK so here is my challenge. Pro-Resort folk (like the helpful person at the last Council meeting asking to INCREASE the fireworks so they can make more money on the tourists) bring me the study. Show me the proof that the City of Anaheim has demanded that Disney study the toxicity of fireworks, and/or monitored mitigation of impacts, as even inert material raining down on backyards, vegetable gardens, and dog dishes in southern Anaheim will have a cumulative effect if done 365 days per year. Bring me that study, and I will donate $100 to the candidate of their choosing which includes Murray, Eastman, Kring. Indeed here is your chance. bring me the study and force the donation to a Dem and I lose my alternate seat on Central Committee and any opportunity to serve in CRA. So there are bigger stakes for those who want to shut me up.

Well this certainly got my attention, Daniel, because at first it looked like the first suit was some sort of SLAPP suits going after Fitz for defamation or harassment or something. Instead, it’s just a suit regarding the accuracy of ballot statements, which is quite different and far less serious. (If one wins, the Judge just corrects the errors.) An ad hominem attack would be included not because it causes them damage, but just because it does not belong in a ballot statement. One can have frivolous ballot statement suits, but while this may fail (and may deserve to fail), it doesn’t seem frivolous.

Similarly, Kring’s claim that she doesn’t support districting despite having voted to put it on the ballot could conceivably be held up as non-frivolous. The interesting question is whether she is here admitting to violating any terms in the Settlement Agreement with the ACLU, which I’d THINK would have kept the Council out of opposing the measure. So I’m glad that she’s filed this one. In fact, I can barely tell you how glad I am for it!

Just as a snarky aside, I wonder if Kris and Gail would keep using the “hat” photo that appears on the thumbnail pic if they knew those are both MY hats they were wearing that day….and they are on wrong.